Resource and environmental constraints to growth

To evaluate conventional methods for modeling the role of natural resources in economic activities, this analysis reviews the specific attributes of past and current neoclassical models that included natural resources, considering both micro analyses of extractive firm behavior and aggregate optimal planning models, and examines conventional assumptions about constraints to economic activities including both the availability of production materials and the absorptive capacity of environmental resources. An optimal allocation of natural resources (all the original endowments of the earth) requires a conjunctive management strategy so that both the rates of extraction and waste generation are considered.